The mobile network operator Kyivstar in September activated 4G technology at 75 base stations, as a result, 83,000 more Ukrainian residents in 132 settlements are able to access the company’s high-speed mobile Internet.
The press service of the operator reported on Monday that in particular, the technology was activated in the following settlements: Verkhniy Luzhok, Yasenytsia-Zamkova, Khatky (Lviv region), Tochylove, Novoheorgiyivka, Topaly (Odesa region), Shevchenkove, Kiyliv, Somkova Dolyna (Kyiv region), Liubar, Stryzhivka, Ivankivtsi (Zhytomyr region).
The company said that in the second quarter of 2021, Kyivstar invested about UAH 1.5 billion in the development of new communication technologies, which made it possible to significantly expand the territory of the 4G network. Due to this, the number of subscribers who used high-speed mobile Internet increased during this period by 32.3%, and the consumption of megabytes per subscriber increased by 23.6%.
To date, 10.3 million people use 4G communication in the Kyivstar network.
LTE technology in the Kyivstar network has been activated at almost 18,000 base stations.
By 2022, the operator plans to cover 90% of the country’s population with 4G.
MAP OF INTERNET COVERINGS OF UKRAINIAN BASIC MOBILE OPERATORS IN JUNE 2021
The Kyivstar mobile operator in January-June 2021 launched 4G in 2,634 settlements, where about 1.2 million people live, the company’s press service said.
Kyivstar notes that by the end of the year it plans to provide at least 89% of the entire population of Ukraine with high-speed Internet.
“Due to the fact that in July last year, Kyivstar began using 900 MHz frequencies to expand its 4G network, it was possible to significantly increase the coverage in rural areas. First of all, in small villages with 2,000 inhabitants or even less. Now about 12 million villagers have access to 4G, and in cities – 22 million people,” the statement reads.
According to the head of regional marketing of Kyivstar, Mykhailo Mykoliuk, since the beginning of 2021, the operator has installed almost 3,000 new base stations with 4G.
In total, Kyivstar’s 4G network currently operates in more than 15,000 cities and villages of Ukraine. And by the end of the year, Kyivstar plans to increase their total number to 16,000.
Subscribers of prepaid communications of the mobile operator Kyivstar will be able to switch to the contract form of service remotely by calling the operator’s call center.
According to the press service of the operator, it is enough to give your surname, name and date of birth to the operator of the call center to enter them into the contract, and then select a tariff plan.
Further, within 30 days, subscribers will be able to visit any Kyivstar branded store with a passport and TIN to complete the signing of the contract. All this time, they will be able to use the basic services in their new tariff.
“It became possible to simplify the connection of contract tariffs thanks to the operator’s IT systems upgrades to a modern solution from Ericsson,” the report says.
Kyivstar also notes that the company has more than 520 branded stores throughout Ukraine, where customers can complete the transition to a contract, choose another advantageous tariff plan, resolve service issues or purchase a modern 4G smartphone and other gadgets.
“Contract subscribers can have several numbers on one account, which is beneficial for paying and managing the services of the whole family. And, of course, they have a higher level of protection of the number and SIM card, because only an identified owner can carry out all operations with them. This is especially it is relevant if online banking, profiles on social networks and the like are linked to the number,” the operator emphasizes.
In March 2021, mobile operator lifecell expanded its 4G network coverage in 661 more settlements of Ukraine with a population of more than 358,000 people.
According to the operator’s statement on Wednesday, in particular, in March the lifecell network was expanded in 655 towns with a population of up to 5,000 people and in six cities with a population of up to 25,000 people in different regions of Ukraine.
The operator also analyzed the consumption of data traffic in March: lifecell subscribers using 4G consumed 82% more mobile Internet traffic compared to the same period in 2020.
At the same time, the total volume of used data traffic in the operator’s network in March increased by 49% on an annual basis.
“One of the main reasons for the traffic growth is the expansion of coverage in the 900 MHz range, which became possible after the operators carried out refarming of the radio frequency spectrum in this range. This made it possible for residents of rural areas and small towns to use high-speed mobile Internet,” lifecell said.
Kyiv became the leader among settlements in terms of consumption of mobile Internet traffic in March in the category of cities with a population of more than 1 million, and then it is followed by Odesa, Kharkiv and Dnipro.
In cities with a population of up to 1 million people, Lviv is in the lead, and with a population of up to 500,000 people – Cherkasy.
The number of voice calls did not change compared to March 2020.
The Kyivstar mobile operator during April and May launched high-speed 4G Internet at 900 MHz in Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Kremenchuk, Kryvy Rih, Mariupol and Mykolaiv, the company said.
“The LTE900 project gave a significant impetus to expanding the network in small villages, where people did not have high-speed Internet before. Over the past year, residents of thousands of such settlements received 4G from Kyivstar, and we already see how quickly the use of the Internet there is growing, digital divide with cities is decreasing,” the director for planning and quality management of Kyivstar networks, Vasyl Pantov, said.
According to him, LTE900 has significant development potential for at least the next few years, primarily for launching 4G in remote, inaccessible villages and on highways, as well as for improving network performance where tens of thousands of customers are already using it at the same time.
The company notes that thanks to the use of 900 MHz frequencies in cities, Kyivstar has improved the quality of the signal indoors, since the advantage of this range is not only in a larger coverage radius, but also in the fact that the signal at low frequencies penetrates better through the walls of buildings, compared to signal at high frequencies.
“As statistics show, thanks to this innovation, 4G coverage inside buildings increased by 5-10 percentage points (p.p.), 4G traffic grew by an average of 7%, and the subscriber satisfaction index according to the survey results also improved by 1-2 percentage points.,” the company said.
Currently, Kyivstar’s 4G network operates in almost 15,000 cities and villages of Ukraine, where more than 87% of the country’s population live.
